Alaska lawmakers requested Walgreens management to reconsider its decision to not sell the abortion drug mifepristone within the state, following what they described as “inappropriate demands” from the attorney general of the state, Treg Taylor.
More than two dozen lawmakers from two dozen members from the Alaska House and Senate signed to the letter. The letter included a copy of Alaska’s constitution, and urged Walgreens President Rosalind Taylor to look over it.
Rep. Zack Fields, D-Anchorage said that the Attorney General shouldn’t be in a position to “bully businesses into compromising the rights guaranteed by the Constitution to Alaskans.”
“Our Attorney General might not agree with or agree with the (state) constitution but it’s an act of country, and he can’t have the power to unilaterally remove basic right for Alaskans,” Fields said.
Mifepristone, a drug used to induce abortions, and aborting can be legal in Alaska as well as The Alaskan Supreme Court has ruled that the right to choose between a woman and an abortion is protected by the Alaska Constitution’s privacy clause.
However, Walgreens declared that they would not be carrying the drug in Alaska as well as 19 other states following Taylor joined with other attorney generals of state in joining the letter prohibiting the use of the use of the drug. Walgreens is going through the process of becoming licensed to sell the drug following a rule change made by the FDA that allowed retailers to sell the drug.
In a written statement Taylor’s office claimed that since Walgreens did not offer the medication direct to people in Alaska prior to the date of the letter, the accessibility of the drug for Alaskans has not changed.
Fields claims that Walgreens is one of the places to fill prescriptions within his neighborhood in Anchorage. He’s boycotting the chain’s national store.
There are around 12 Walgreens stores in Alaska mostly located in Anchorage as well as other Railbelt communities. However, Fields claimed that the issue is much bigger than Walgreens and that all other companies need to be aware that abortions are legally protected within the State of Alaska.
“I believe I’ve never encountered an issue that provoked this level of outrage,” he said. “I believe it’s unprecedented. It’s particularly shocking and needs to be dealt with immediately.”
The Anchorage Daily News reportedSunday that the pharmacists are at Safeway, Costco and Fred Meyer are carrying the medication in stock or readily available to customers with prescriptions.
Alaska legislators aren’t just the one elected official who are skeptics over Walgreens’ decision. Walgreens decision. NPR announced on that on Tuesday the Walgreens shares plunged almost 2% following California Governor. Gavin Newsom announced the state was no longer doing deal with Walgreens.
